Desolation Wilderness

That flat line where the sky meets the sea is a fine space to focus on your being. Whether you find inner peace, a sense of grandeur or one of nothingness depends on several elements. Desolation Wilderness are a West Coast band that have created a soundtrack for the looking that succeeds in enhancing the experience without pointing out answers. New Universe shimmers like Pacific Diamonds softened through the late afternoon heat haze. The quartet manage to intermingle vintage California vibrations with tinges of Galaxie 500's Sunday melancholy and the spacegaze of sianSPHERIC. Singer/guitarist Nicolaas Zwart has an unhurried croon, which is fed through the same reverb/echoplex as his guitar, backed by easy-feeling rhythms and barnacled by vibraphone, horns and other little ornaments. It's a little like listening to VU's "Sunday Morning" from just below the waterline. It's a sound to lift your spirit while you balance the within and without.